Order picking system

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to an order picking system ( 1 ) with at least one automatic commissioning machine ( 2 ) having article racks ( 3 ) in which channels ( 4 ) for articles are positioned which are inclined in relation to the horizontal. Said channels comprise an article stop element and an article distributing device on their lower longitudinal ends and can be filled with new articles at their other, higher longitudinal ends on the rack loading side (B). The order picking system provided for in the invention is characterized in that a movable rack steering unit ( 5 ) has an article handling device ( 51 ) which is mobile in three dimensions and has an article stack retaining device ( 52 ) which can contain a vertical stack of articles and can be positioned vertically at each higher longitudinal end of an article channel ( 4 ) on the rack loading side (B). The article stack retaining device ( 52 ) comprises a lower or upper slide ( 53 ) for pushing out individual articles which can be displaced in the transverse direction of the stack.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention pertains to a commissioning system with at leastone automatic commissioning unit, which has at least one article baywith article shafts, which are arranged next to one another and one ontop of another and are sloped against the horizontal, and in whicharticles to be commissioned can be stored, wherein each article shafthas means for stopping and dispensing the articles at one of itslongitudinal ends, which end is located lower, and can be filled withnew articles on the bay filling side at its other, higher longitudinalend. The present invention also pertains to a process for providing andstoring articles in a commissioning unit, preferably one of theabove-mentioned type.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The filling shafts of automatic commissioning units have hitherto beenloaded with new articles mainly manually. The operation is comparativelyexpensive and time-consuming.

According to EP 0 794 135, the filling is already partially automatedand made more efficient for vertical or nearly vertical filling shaftsaccessible from the front. Not only an individual article, but alreadyan entire stack of articles can be stored simultaneously in the fillingshaft for each automatic unit. The stack of articles is handled in aspecial, box-like magazine with a longitudinal slot in one longitudinalside wall. The magazine serves the purpose of keeping the stack ofarticles consistently together, from the site of introduction at theacceptance department to the filling operation proper. The magazine isadapted to the shape of the articles and the plurality of stackedarticles. After a filling operation in the automatic commissioning unit,the empty magazine is returned to the acceptance department for beingfilled again with articles.

SUMMARY AND OBJECTS OF THE INVENTION

The object of the present invention is to provide a commissioning unitof the type described in the introduction, which makes it possible bysimple means to load articles into automatic commissioning units withso-called flow shelves and optionally also to expediently providearticles to be loaded.

According to the invention, a commissioning unit is provided with atleast one automatic commissioning unit, which has article shafts. Thearticle shafts are arranged next to one another and one on top ofanother and are sloped against the horizontal. The articles to becommissioned are stored in the unit, wherein each said article shaft hasa means for stopping and dispensing articles at one of its longitudinalends that is its lower end and can be filled with new articles at itsother, higher longitudinal end on a bay filling side. A travelingbay-storage and retrieval unit is associated with the article bay andhas an article-handling device that is movable in space with astack-of-articles support. This can be positioned in an essentiallyvertical position with a correspondingly vertical stack of articlespicked up in the support at each higher longitudinal end of a articleshaft on the bay filling side. The stack-of-articles support has a lowerindividual article ejector, which is displaceable in the transversedirection of the stack and is preferably equipped with a counter, and bywhich the lowermost article of the stack of articles of the support canbe pushed into the selected article shaft or, as an alternative, it hasa stack-of-articles holding-up device, which can be pushed up and bywhich a topmost article of a pushed-up, obliquely positioned stack ofarticles reaches the selected article shaft under the force of gravityor by means of a upper individual article ejector, which is displaceablein the transverse direction of the stack and is preferably equipped witha counter.

The essence of the present invention is that a traveling bay-storage andretrieval unit associated with the article bay of the automaticcommissioning unit has a magazineless article-handling device, which ismovable in space, with a stack-of-articles support, which can bepositioned in an essentially vertical position with a stack of articleswhich is picked up in the support and is correspondingly vertical ateach higher longitudinal end of an article shaft on the bay fillingside, wherein the stack-of-articles support has a lower individualarticle ejector, which is preferably equipped with a counter and can bedisplaced in the transverse direction of the stack, by which thelowermost article of the stack of articles of the support can be pushedinto the selected article shaft, or, as an alternative, it has astack-of-articles holding-up device, which can be pushed up and by whicha topmost article of a pushed-up, obliquely positioned stack of articlesenters the selected article shaft either under the force of gravity orby means of an upper individual article ejector, which can be displacedin the transverse direction of the stack and is preferably equipped witha counter.

A stack-of-articles support with a lower individual article ejectorpreferably has a vertically adjustable guide for a lowermost individualarticle to be pushed out.

The stack-of-articles support preferably has a pair of stack-of-articlesclamping plates with a stack-of-articles pick-up and a transverselyadjustable longitudinal stack-of-articles clamping plate with anglestop, by which a picked-up stack of articles can be elastically clampedin the transverse direction of the stack. To make possible a verticalmovement, the stack of articles must be loosened for separation, wherethe longitudinal clamping plate preferably has spring-tensioned fingerssuch that no article can be caught on the spring-tensioned fingers inthe loosened state, especially not by a longitudinally directed bar,which is in a parked position and is pushed forward.

The stack-of-articles support, which is held essentially vertically ineach operating position, preferably has a doubly sloped angle sheetiron, wherein a stack of articles being held in the support is laterallyfixed in the root of the angle by the force of gravity and the stack ofarticles is supported on the bottom side either on the individualarticle ejector or on the stack-of-articles holding-up device which canbe pushed up.

For the efficient operation of the commissioning unit, provisions may bemade for the article-handling device to have not only astack-of-articles support for filling the automatic commissioning unitand optionally for removing and transporting a stack of articles fromand into storage areas, but additionally also an article-handling unit,which is movable in space, for removing articles stack by stack and fortransporting articles stack by stack from an acceptance department orfrom and to a supply bay, wherein the article-handling unit and thestack-of-articles support can be preferably aligned with one another andpositioned in a vertical position and a stack of articles supported onthe article-handling unit can be transferred into the stack-of-articlessupport by an adjustable transverse stack-of-articles pusher.

The article-handling unit of the bay-storage and retrieval unit, whichis movable in space, comprises, in particular, a bottom-sidestack-of-articles pick-up, an adjustable longitudinal stack-of-articlespusher, an adjustable transverse stack-of-articles pusher, and anadjustable longitudinal stack-of-articles clamping plate, which has, inparticular, a row of spring-tensioned fingers and which presses a stackof articles picked up directly without a magazine in the clamped stateagainst the stack-of-articles pick-up by the longitudinalstack-of-articles clamping plate, especially by the spring-tensionedfingers thereof.

Instead of the spring-tensioned fingers, it is also possible to provideother clamping means which ensure the local clamping of every individualarticle in the stack of articles, e.g., a flexible clamping strip havingsufficient elasticity to reset.

The bay-storage and retrieval unit is preferably displaceable via aguide or rail system with or without switches from and to at least onesupply bay and can be positioned at a selected lateral end of a shaft ofthe supply bay, especially an angle sheet iron, wherein an individualstack of articles to be handled is or can be arranged in each selectedshaft and the stack of articles reaches an aligned article pick-up ofthe article handling unit by displacement in the direction of the stack,or, conversely, it reaches the selected shaft from the article pick-up.

In the case of small-sized products, it is optionally also possible toload two stacks of articles, which are now parallel, in a single shaft(“multiple load pick-up”).

The supply bay may be a higher-level supply bay, which is associatedwith the automatic commissioning unit and is preferably located in thevicinity of the article bay of the automatic commissioning unit.

However, the supply bay may also be a buffer, which is associated withthe acceptance department and is preferably located in the vicinity ofthe unpacking station, at which the stacks of articles are unpacked froma collective box and are put together.

Both one or more higher-level supply bays and one or more buffers arepreferably present depending on the size of the commissioning unit andthe local space conditions, and a plurality of automatic commissioningunits may be present as well.

The commissioning unit according to the present invention canconsequently be designed within broad limits as desired and, inparticular, it can also be expanded in the future without difficulties.

The unpacked stacks of articles are expediently put together on astack-of-articles stacker plate, which has the shape of a part of atleast one bay level of the supply bay, and is formed especially by anglesheet irons, wherein the bay-storage and retrieval unit can also bedisplaced to the stack-of-articles stacker plate by displacement via therail or guide system for taking over a stack of articles and it can bepositioned at the stack-of-articles stacker plate, especially at alateral end of an angle sheet iron.

For positioning at the bay-storage and retrieval unit, thestack-of-articles stacker plate may also be displaceable, especially ona conveyor belt or on a chute and/or be rotatable around a vertical axispreferably over an angle of 90° or 180°.

The stack-of-articles stacker plate may also be a vertically adjustablebay with drawers that can be pulled out, which can be operated manuallyor automatically.

A hand or foot switch may optionally be actuated by a human operator foradjusting the stack-of-articles stacker plate.

The commissioning unit may also be designed as a fully automatic unitsuch that an automatic unpacking unit with a gripping arm, which graspsa preferably horizontal stack of articles from an opened collective boxand deposits it on the stack-of-articles stacker plate, is provided onthe acceptance department side.

The opening and delivery of the collective box may optionally also beperformed by means of a machine.

A supply bay of a particularly expedient design has one or more levelsof angle sheet irons arranged next to one another, which levels arearranged one on top of another.

Each angle sheet iron may extend horizontally, but it is bent twice in amanner that is to be pointed out in particular, such that a chute isformed, which has a rectangular cross section and is oblique in thelongitudinal direction, wherein the root of the angle is located at thelowest point in each cross section over the length of the chute and bothsurfaces of the legs of the angle are stop faces for a stack of articlespicked up, and, furthermore, a detachable, preferably depressiblearticle stop is provided at the deepest end of the chute.

The detachable article stop may be actuated not only remotely, but itmay also be self-actuated, e.g., by a magnet. The article stop may alsobe rigid. In this case, the articles are lifted over with a suitabledevice during a displacement of a stack of articles.

In one variant of the present invention, the slope of the chute is about20° in the longitudinal direction and the slope of the base of the chuteis about 15° in the transverse direction. The more oblique the slope ofthe chute in the longitudinal direction, the greater is the independentslidability of the stack of articles in the chute. It was found thatwith the above-mentioned slope, a stack of articles is held in practicaloperation under stable conditions advantageously on the rear side andthe top side with a rolling cart and it slides satisfactorily in thechute when a stack of articles is displaced in the system of thecommissioning unit. The transverse slope of 15° always fixes a stack ofarticles in the angle root of the chute.

Consequently, a longitudinal fixing aid, which pushes the stack ofarticles against the article stop, may be provided in the chute.

The longitudinal fixing aid is expediently the rolling cart, alongitudinally adjustable, driven article stop or a spring-pretensionedarticle stop.

It shall be pointed out that different article sizes can be held in afixed manner as a stack in the angle root in the above-mentioned chutesloping doubly at an angle. A cubic shape is sufficient. Thus, a singleangle sheet iron may be used for different articles without the entireunit having to be converted.

The supply bay may also be a space-saving double bay, which is arrangedback to back.

The article-handling unit of the bay-storage and retrieval unitexpediently has a coupling pin, which can be caused to engage as acentering aid a corresponding recess in a selected shaft of a supplybay.

There are, however, basically a plurality of principles of positioning:

-   -   1) On the one hand, the repeating accuracy of the positioning of        the bay-storage and retrieval unit can be utilized.    -   2) On the other hand, the fine positioning can be performed, as        was mentioned above, mechanically by means of a coupling pin.    -   3) Finally, the fine positioning may be performed by means of        sensors via a suitable sensory mechanism, in which case all the        above-mentioned possibilities of combination are also        conceivable.

The article-handling unit may also have a stop, especially a smallroller, which can be caused to engage the stack-of-articles stop of ashaft for releasing or depressing the stack-of-articles stop, whereinthe stop of the article-handling unit may also be the adjustablelongitudinal pusher itself.

A commissioning unit that makes do without separate magazines for stacksof articles to be loaded in is characterized, in particular, by thestack-of-articles pick-up of the bay-storage and retrieval unit, theshaft and the angle sheet iron of the higher-level supply bay, thebuffer and the stack-of-articles stacker plate at the acceptancedepartment having the same design in terms of length, width andoptionally slope (longitudinal slope, transverse slope).

However, the size of the angle sheet iron of the higher-level supply baymay also be different. The smallest possible number of classes arepreferably determined in order to make it possible to load articles ofdifferent sizes as close as possible, while the stack-of-articlespick-up of the bay-storage and retrieval unit always remains the same(corresponding to the largest grid).

An especially expedient variant of a bay-storage and retrieval unitaccording to the present invention provides for the article-handlingunit being fixed via a pivot axis on a carriage, which is transverselydisplaceable on a transverse rail with a slope in the depth of the shaftand in the longitudinal direction of the shaft of the supply bay,especially with a slope of about 20°, wherein the transverse rail isrigidly fastened to a vertically displaceable lifting carriage of thebay-storage and retrieval unit.

The transverse rail may also be designed as a telescope, such that itcan be displaced in a stationary telescopic unit.

The special advantage of this variant is that a small number of axes aresufficient for positioning the article-handling unit (axis in parallelto the shaft including two electric cylinders for linkage). Likewise,only two pushers (longitudinal pusher and transverse pusher) are needed.

Another embodiment of the bay-storage and retrieval unit, which is noless expedient, is characterized in that the article-handling unit is atwo-part unit and has a separate, vertically adjustablestack-of-articles pick-up unit with a plurality of angle sheet irons ofthe type, position and size of the stack-of-articles pick-up and of thesupply bay, which has at least one adjustable second longitudinalstack-of-articles pusher of its own, wherein a plurality of stacks ofarticles can be delivered as well as loaded and unloaded by thestack-of-articles pick-up unit from the buffer or from thestack-of-articles pick-up to the higher-level supply bay, and it has aseparate, vertically adjustable article bay loading unit, which is inturn a two-part unit and has a vertically adjustable individualstack-of-articles pick-up with the longitudinal stack-of-articles pusherand a transverse stack-of-articles pusher, on the one hand, and, on theother hand, a gripping unit or article support movable in space with thebottom-side stack-of-articles pick-up, with the longitudinalstack-of-articles clamping plate with angle stop and verticallyadjustable sensor for a lowermost article to be pushed out, as well aswith the individual article ejector, wherein a single selected stack ofarticles can be delivered by the article bay loading unit from thesupply bay (higher-level supply bay, buffer) or from thestack-of-articles stacker plate of the acceptance department into theautomatic commissioning unit, and each article can be loaded thereindividually into a selected oblique article shaft of the automaticcommissioning unit by the article support.

It is also conceivable, in principle, to intermediately store aplurality of stacks of articles from the supply bay at the bay-storageand retrieval unit and to load them in the automatic commissioning unitone after another.

To load the stack of articles into the automatic commissioning unit, thestack of articles can be expediently removed by the individualstack-of-articles pick-up from the supply bay in the longitudinaldirection of the stack by displacement with the longitudinalstack-of-articles pusher and can be delivered to the automaticcommissioning unit and after transfer and transverse displacement of thestack of articles from the individual stack-of-articles pick-up by thetransverse stack-of-articles pusher to the bottom-side stack-of-articlespick-up of the aligned gripping unit (or by direct takeover by thegripping unit) and after clamping of the entire stack of articles in thetransverse direction of the stack by the longitudinal clamping platewith the spring-tensioned fingers, it can be positioned and individuallyloaded at the selected shaft of the automatic commissioning unit bymoving the gripping unit.

The gripping unit is preferably fastened via an axis of rotation to avertically adjustable lifting carriage, which is in turn verticallydisplaceable on a vertical bar of the bay-storage and retrieval unit,which bar is articulated on the bottom side around two axes that are atright angles to one another.

The vertical bar expediently has a shorter length than the vertical baron which the single stack-of-articles pick-up and the stack-of-articlespick-up unit are vertically displaceable. The reason for this is thatthe height of a higher-level supply bay may be approx. 5.5 m, while theheight of the automatic commissioning unit is usually approx. 2.5 m (theheight of a flow shelf, which is currently approx. 2.0 m, can beselected to be considerably higher in the future in the case ofautomatic refilling, possibly with the introduction of a seconddispensing plane including a central conveyor belt located at a higherlevel).

The axis with a length of 2.5 m may also be part of the principal axisand be connected to same in the form of a tandem axis.

The special advantage of the second embodiment variant is that theautomatic commissioning unit filling unit has a sufficiently long(approx. 2.5 m) axis, by which the displacement of the gripping unitalong the shaft is facilitated. The vertical axis or bar proper of thebay-storage and retrieval unit carries only the pick-up unit (aplurality of stacks of articles on one side, a single stack of articleson the other side), which is likewise suitable for high supply bays (inthe range of approx. 5.5 m).

A plurality of stacks of articles for buffering are also conceivable onthe other side. The stack-of-articles pick-up unit may also be rotatablearound a vertical axis by 180° in order to be able to servicedouble-sided bays.

In the second embodiment variant, it may be advantageous to use twoseparate devices for introducing and loading goods, because theoperations may have different priorities and it may thus be possible tomake do with fewer devices.

It is advantageous in each of the above-mentioned two basic embodimentvariants of the article-handling device for the direct loading into anoblique shaft of an automatic commissioning unit to be performed afterthe loosening of the clamping closure of the stack of articles byslightly setting back the longitudinal clamping plate while pushing outa lowermost or topmost individual article by means of the individualarticle ejector of the stack-of-articles support of the bay-storage andretrieval unit at the same time. The stack of articles to be loaded(which is positioned nearly or exactly in the vertical direction) isthen held displaceably guided in the vertical direction in thestack-of-articles support, namely, by a vertically adjustable individualarticle push-out guide or a stack-of-articles holding-up device and/or,e.g., by an angle stop at the longitudinal clamping plate.

To hold the stack of articles displaceably in the vertical direction, itis also possible to provide a securing means in the form of a devicethat prevents an article from being caught in the longitudinal clampingplate with spring-tensioned fingers, e.g., a round bar, which can bedisplaced from a parked position into the area in front of thespring-tensioned fingers.

The present invention provides a process for making ready and loadingarticles in a commissioning unit, with at least one automaticcommissioning unit, which has at least one article bay with articleshafts, which are arranged next to one another and one on top of anotherand are sloped against the horizontal, in which articles to becommissioned can be stored, wherein each article shaft has a means forstopping and dispensing the articles at one of its longitudinal ends,which end is located lower, and can be filled with new articles at itsother, higher longitudinal end on the bay filling side, and the processis characterized especially in that a traveling bay-storage andretrieval unit associated with the article bay with an article-handlingdevice, which is movable in space, with a stack-of-articles support ispositioned in an essentially vertical position of the support with acorrespondingly vertical stack of articles picked up in the support at aselected, higher longitudinal end of an article shaft on the bay fillingside, wherein the lowermost article of the stack of articles of thesupport is pushed into the selected article shaft by a lower individualarticle ejector, which is displaceable in the transverse direction ofthe stack, or, as an alternative, a topmost article of a pushed-up,obliquely positioned stack of articles is introduced by the force ofgravity into the selected article shaft by a stack-of-articlesholding-up device that can be pushed up or by an upper individualarticle ejector that is displaceable in the transverse direction of thestack.

Moreover, the bay-storage and retrieval unit may be used to transportcomplete stacks of articles from the acceptance department and/or fromand to supply storage areas. However, the stacks of articles positionedat the automatic commissioning unit are fed into the automaticcommissioning unit article by article, and, in an embodiment for feedingseparate articles, the stack of articles can be first transferred fromone device (article-handling unit) to another device (stack-of-articlessupport), but if the support/gripping unit and the (optionallydisplaceable) individual article ejector and the (optionallydisplaceable) stack-of-articles holding-up device or the (displaceable)guide for a lower individual article to be pushed out are designedcorrespondingly, a single device of the bay-storage and retrieval unitcan also perform all the above-mentioned operations.

If, e.g., the individual article ejector is just not yet needed during atransport operation, it can, e.g., be pivoted away from thestack-of-articles support and, e.g., a (likewise displaceable)longitudinal stack-of-articles pusher may be arranged or operate in thisarea.

Thus, the present invention makes it possible to completely abandonseparate stack-of-articles magazines (contrary to the state of the artmentioned in the introduction). Thus, such magazines do not need to bemanufactured, nor do they need to be adapted to a special stack ofarticles, nor do they need to be conveyed within the system of thecommissioning unit, and especially returned as empties from theautomatic commissioning unit to the acceptance department, which isnormally located at a great distance. The commissioning unit makespossible a favorable workplace design at the acceptance department. Asthe collective cardboard boxes with the articles (e.g., the amount ofarticles to be commissioned daily) are delivered there by a truck, thecardboard boxes can be unpacked there by a plurality of persons rapidlyand effectively in a short time and simultaneously and the stacks ofarticles can be put together, e.g., in a morning shift. Nevertheless,the bay-storage and retrieval unit or bay-storage and retrieval unitsperform (normally over the entire workday) the distribution and theloading of the articles stack by stack at the necessary point in theautomatic commissioning unit or at an optimized point within the systemof the unit, utilizing supply bays in the form of a higher-level supplybay or supply bays and/or buffer(s), which can be complemented orrearranged almost at will for an expansion or modification of thecommissioning unit.

The various features of novelty which characterize the invention arepointed out with particularity in the claims annexed to and forming apart of this disclosure. For a better understanding of the invention,its operating advantages and specific objects attained by its uses,reference is made to the accompanying drawings and descriptive matter inwhich a preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a schematic top view of a commissioning unit with automaticcommissioning units, rail-borne bay-storage and retrieval units,higher-level supply bays, buffers and unpacking station;

FIG. 2 is a schematic top view similar to FIG. 1 of a commissioning unitin the area of the unpacking station;

FIG. 3 is a schematic perspective view of a first embodiment variant ofa bay-storage and retrieval unit according to FIG. 1 with astack-of-articles support in a filling position of the automaticcommissioning unit;

FIG. 4 is a view of the bay-storage and retrieval unit according to FIG.3 with a stack-of-articles support in a stack-of-articles-displacingposition;

FIG. 5 is a view of the stack-of-articles support according to FIG. 3with two oblique article shafts of an automatic commissioning unit;

FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a stack-of-articles support with alower individual article ejector during the filling of the articleshaft;

FIG. 7 is a view of a stack-of-articles support with an upper individualarticle ejector during the filling of the article shaft similarly toFIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a view of a stack-of-articles support with upper, automaticarticle shaft filling and stack-of-articles holding-up device that canbe pushed up;

FIG. 9 is a schematic front view of two commissioning units andhigher-level supply bays according to FIG. 1 with another bay-storageand retrieval unit in a bay aisle;

FIG. 10 is a view of the bay-storage and retrieval unit according toFIG. 9 with a stack-of-articles support that is movable in space and anarticle-handling unit that is movable in space immediately after thedisplacement of a stack of articles in the direction of the stack from ahigher-level supply bay onto the article-handling unit;

FIG. 11 is a view of the bay-storage and retrieval unit according toFIGS. 9 and 10 in a middle position of the essentially verticalstack-of-articles support and the oblique article-handling unit with thestack of articles picked up for transporting the stack of articles inthe bay aisle;

FIG. 12 is a view of the bay-storage and retrieval unit according toFIG. 11 after the transport of the stack of articles immediately beforethe transfer of the essentially vertical, especially slightly obliquestack of articles with parallel arrangement of the stack-of-articlessupport and the article-handling unit;

FIG. 13 is a view of the transfer of a lowermost article of the stack ofarticles held in the stack-of-articles support into an article shaft ofthe automatic commissioning unit with a lower individual articlepush-out guide and a lower individual article ejector;

FIG. 14 is a view of a stack-of-articles support with angle sheet ironfor laterally supporting a picked-up stack of articles;

FIG. 15 is a view of a part of the higher-level supply bay according toFIG. 9 viewed in a schematic side view from the bay aisle;

FIG. 16 is a schematic vertical view of an unpacking station with abuffer and a bay-storage and retrieval unit arranged in-between;

FIG. 17 is a schematic top view of an unpacking station according toFIG. 16;

FIG. 18 is a perspective view of the article-handling unit according toFIGS. 9 through 13 in the area of their stack-of-articles pick-up;

FIG. 19 is a schematic view showing a vertical partial section of thedocking operation of the article-handling unit according to FIG. 9 at ahigher-level supply bay in a position during the operation;

FIG. 20 is a schematic view showing a vertical partial section of thedocking operation of the article-handling unit according to FIG. 9 at ahigher-level supply bay in another position during the operation;

FIG. 21 is a schematic view showing a vertical partial section of thedocking operation of the article-handling unit according to FIG. 9 at ahigher-level supply bay in another position during the operation;

FIG. 22 is a schematic view showing a vertical partial section of thedocking operation of the article-handling unit according to FIG. 9 at ahigher-level supply bay in another position during the operation;

FIG. 23 is a perspective view of the article-handling unit according toFIG. 22 immediately after the picking up of the stack of articles;

FIG. 24 is a view of the article-handling unit according to FIG. 23immediately after the clamping of the stack of articles by thetransverse displacement of a longitudinal clamping plate, similarly toFIG. 10;

FIG. 25 is a schematic vertical view of an unpacking station with buffersimilar to FIG. 16; and

FIG. 26 is a schematic top view of the unpacking station according toFIG. 25 similar to FIG. 17.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to the drawings in particular, FIG. 1 schematically shows atop view of a commissioning unit 1 with three automatic commissioningunits 2, four higher-level supply bays 15 and five workplaces at theacceptance department E with stack-of-articles stacker plates andbuffers 16, wherein four bay-storage and retrieval units 5 aredisplaceable between the individual areas via a guide or rail system 13.

Another variant of the system is shown with respect to the acceptancedepartment E in FIG. 2.

Each automatic commissioning unit 2 has a plurality of article bays 3with article shafts 4, which are arranged next to one another and one ontop of another and are sloped against the horizontal, in which articlesto be commissioned can be stored, wherein each article shaft 4 has ameans for stopping and dispensing the articles at one of itslongitudinal ends, which end is located lower, and can be filled withnew articles at its other, higher longitudinal end on the bay fillingside B.

The bay-storage and retrieval units 5, e.g., according to the two basicvariants according to FIGS. 3 through 8, on the one hand, and accordingto FIGS. 9 through 14, on the other hand, have an article-handlingdevice 51 that is movable in space with a stack-of-articles support 52,which can be positioned in an essentially vertical position with acorrespondingly vertical stack of articles taken up in the support ateach higher longitudinal end of an article shaft 4 on the bay fillingside B of an automatic commissioning unit 2 due to the repeatingaccuracy of the bay-storage and retrieval unit, due to a suitablemechanical fine centering, due to a sensory aid of the fine centering ordue to a combination of the above-mentioned three principles ofpositioning.

In individual variants, the stack-of-articles support 52 has a lower (orupper) individual article ejector 53, which is displaceable in thetransverse direction of the stack and by which the lowermost (ortopmost) article of the stack of articles 7 of the support can be pushedinto the selected article shaft 4.

If the individual article ejector 53 is arranged at the top, the stackof articles 7 is always pressed upward against the ejector 53 by astack-of-articles holding-up device 54, which is arranged at the bottomand can be pushed up, and the stack of articles is “held up.” After anindividual article has been pushed up, the stack-of-articles holding-updevice always pushes up the stack of articles by the height of thearticle, and the article height may differ from one article to the next.

The upper individual article ejector may be eliminated in the latterembodiment variant when—if the stack of articles is in a correspondingoblique position according to FIG. 8—a pushed-up stack of articlespushes the topmost article upward from the stack-of-articles support 52and this topmost article automatically enters the selected article shaft4 by the force of gravity.

In the case of a stack-of-articles support 52 with a lower individualarticle ejector 53, a vertically adjustable guide 55 is preferably alsoprovided for a lower individual article to be pushed out. Similarly toan above-mentioned stack-of-articles holding-up device, theabove-mentioned guide must also be set to the corresponding articleheight.

The stack-of-articles support 52 may have a pair of stack-of-articlesclamping plates with a stack-of-articles pick-up 8 and a transverselyadjustable longitudinal stack-of-articles clamping plate 12, whichelastically clamps a picked-up stack of articles 7 in the transversedirection Q of the stack, e.g., during the travel of the bay-storage andretrieval unit.

The stack-of-articles support 52, which is held essentially verticallyin each operating position, may have a doubly sloped angle sheet iron14, wherein a stack of articles 7 picked up in the support is laterallyfixed in the root of the angle by the force of gravity and the stack ofarticles is supported on the bottom side either on the individualarticle ejector 53 or on the stack-of-articles holding-up device 54 thatcan be pushed up.

The article-handling device 51 may have not only a stack-of-articlessupport 52 for filling the automatic commissioning unit 2 and optionallyfor removing and transporting a stack of articles from and to storageareas, but additionally also an article-handling unit 6 that is movablein space for the removal of articles stack by stack and for transportingarticles stack by stack from an acceptance department E or from and to asupply bay, wherein the article-handling unit 6 according to FIG. 10 andthe stack-of-articles support 52 can be preferably aligned with oneanother in a vertical position and positioned and a stack of articles 7picked up on the article-handling unit 6 can be transferred into thestack-of-articles support 52 by an adjustable transversestack-of-articles pusher 10.

The article-handling unit 6 according to FIG. 10 can also enter thestack-of-articles support 52, while the spring-tensioned pressing plateis released there and the stack of articles is vertically displaceable,but the article-handling unit 6 remains in the position of thestack-of-articles support 52 as is shown in FIG. 13.

As is shown especially in FIG. 3, the article-handling unit 6 of thebay-storage and retrieval unit 5 that is movable in space may have a“bottom-side” stack-of-articles support 8, an adjustable longitudinalstack-of-articles pusher 9, an adjustable transverse stack-of-articlespusher 10 and an adjustable longitudinal stack-of-articles clampingplate 12, which has especially a row of spring-tensioned fingers 11 andis located in parallel to and opposite the stack-of-articles pick-up 8and pushes a stack of articles 7 picked up directly against thestack-of-articles support by the longitudinal stack-of-articles clampingplate, especially by its spring-tensioned finger 11, in the transversedirection Q of the stack in the clamped state.

Each supply bay, both the higher-level supply bay 15 and the buffer 16,has the same basic design in the form of a stand 40 with four supportsand a plurality of bay planes in the form of doubly sloped angle sheetirons 14 arranged next to one another, as is shown especially in FIGS.15 and 16.

The stack-of-articles stacker plate 18 at the acceptance department Ealso has a corresponding design, but it is located in a single bay levelonly, and two stacker plates 18 may be arranged back to back, as isapparent especially from FIGS. 16 and 17.

A doubly sloped angle sheet iron 14 forms a chute, which is rectangularin its cross section and oblique in its longitudinal direction, whereinthe root of the angle is located at the lowermost point in each crosssection over the length of the chute and both surfaces of the legs ofthe angle are stop faces for a stack of articles 7 picked up, and,furthermore, a detachable, preferably depressible article stop 20 isprovided at the lowermost end of the chute, as is shown especially inFIG. 20.

The slope a of the chute in the longitudinal direction is 19°. The slopeb of the base of the chute in the transverse direction is 15°.

A stack of articles 7 picked up in the chute may have a longitudinalfixing aid, especially a rolling cart 21 according to FIG. 19, whichpushes the stack of articles against the article stop 20.

Like a doubly sloped angle sheet iron, the bottom-side stack-of-articlespick-up 8 of the article-handling unit of the bay-storage and retrievalunit is also sloped, namely, in the starting position during thetransportation of a stack of articles from one bay to the next andduring the displacement of a stack of articles in the direction of thestack from one bay to the next, but not during positioning and loadingin an automatic commissioning unit or during the transfer to thestack-of-articles support 52. The stack of articles is held clamped inthe latter position, namely, by the longitudinal clamping plate 12,whose spring-tensioned fingers 11 push the stack of articles picked upin the pick-up 8 against the stack-of-articles pick-up 8.

Each bay-storage and retrieval unit 5 is consequently displaceable bymeans of the guide or rail system 13 from and to at least one supply bayand can be positioned on the front side at a selected lateral end A of ashaft of the supply bay, namely, at an angle sheet iron 14.

With special reference to FIGS. 19, 20, 21 and 22, a single stack ofarticles 7 to be handled can reach an aligned article pick-up 8 of thearticle-handling unit by displacement in the direction S of the stackand vice versa at each elected angle sheet iron.

Instead of a single stack of articles, it is also possible toaccommodate two article columns or stacks, located in parallel to oneanother, in one bay shaft, especially in the case of small articles.

The bay-storage and retrieval unit according to FIGS. 9 through 13 hasan article-handling device 51 with an article-handling unit 6, which isfastened on a carriage 25 via a pivot axis 24, wherein the transverserail 26 is rigidly or telescopically fastened to a verticallydisplaceable lifting carriage 27 of the bay-storage and retrieval unit5.

Furthermore, the article-handling device 51 has a stack-of-articlessupport 52, which has a filling shaft in the form of an angle sheet iron14, of a vertically adjustable holding-down strap or a guide 55 and ofan individual article ejector 53 with cams 60 or knobs or studs, whichact as article stops during the actuation of the ejector 53.

The ejector mechanism may be a circulating chain with cams, a toothedbelt with cams or even a pneumatic ejector.

The ejector may also have a counter to count the packages filled intothe flow shelf (which may also be a roll-through bay with a rollerconveyor) and thus to make an inventory in the storage area.

For commissioning large amounts, it is also possible to transfer thestack of articles taken from a higher-level supply directly into ashipping container by means of an ejector.

The filling shaft or the stack-of-articles support 52 can be rotatedaround a pivot axis 61 and displaced linearly along a telescopic axis62. In the starting position, the support 52 is in a position in whichit cannot collide with the article-handling unit 6, e.g., in thedirection of travel of the bay-storage and retrieval unit.

During the operation, the bay-storage and retrieval unit travels, e.g.,to the shaft in the higher-level supply bay with the stack of articlesto be removed. The feed motion of the article-handling unit 6 via thefeed axis or transverse rail 26, which travels in the direction of theimaginary extension of the higher-level supply bay 15, beginsthereafter.

According to FIGS. 19, 20 and 21, this movement is divided into aplurality of functions:

The stop 20 of the higher-level supply bay is first pressed down by thelinear movement via small rollers 23 on the loading unit. At the sametime, the stack of articles 7 to be removed is supported in thehigher-level supply bay by the pusher 9 of the loading unit. Accuratepositioning of the loading unit at the higher-level supply bay by meansof a corresponding optical or inductive sensory system or a conical holecentering 22 also takes place during this movement in order to obtainthe most homogeneous sliding surface possible between the higher-levelsupply bay plate and the sliding plate of the loading unit.

The cone 22 also extends either telescopically or via an axis of its ownat a higher velocity than does the transverse pusher, so that there willbe no collision between components during the loading of the shaft ofthe automatic commissioning unit.

According to FIG. 22, the removal of the stack of articles 7 isperformed after the conclusion of the coupling operation. Due to thedisplacement of the pusher 9, the stack of articles slides over onto thesliding plate of the loading unit. The support cart 21 now follows themovement continuously at the end of the stack of articles 7 in thehigher-level supply bay in order to guarantee the integrity of the stackof articles.

According to FIG. 23, this operation is considered to have concludedwhen the last article of the column or stack has been pushed over ontothe loading unit. The support cart 21 continuously exerts its force onthe stack up to this position in order to prevent the last article fromtilting over or being left behind.

According to FIG. 24, the stack of articles is fixed in its position bymeans of the clamping device in the form of the longitudinal clampingplate 12 once it is entirely on the loading unit.

Contrary to the coupling situation, upward movement of the stop 20 takesplace during the travel of the loading unit due to a sliding movement atthe above-described small roller. The support cart continues to travelalong in this area with the article column or the stack of articles andis held securely in the higher-level supply bay by the stop that hasalready swung up after a travel of about 20–30 mm. During the removal ofa product column, the rake mounted on the support cart is supportedcorrespondingly at the last product and is held, secured by the stopmoving up (dipping of the rake through the stop plate).

The loading unit is then displaced into the middle position by means ofthe feed axis or transverse rail 26 and the carriage 25. The pivotingwith the pivot axis 24 into a position in which the stack of articles 7stands in parallel to the support 52 takes place here. Thearticle-handling unit with the stack of articles 7 is then pushed to thestack-of-articles support 52 as described by means of the feed axis ortransverse rail/carriage 25 such that the front edge of the stack ofarticles comes into contact with the inner edge of the stack-of-articlessupport 52. The stack of articles 7 can be placed on the ejector 53 withan optional additional axis.

The additional displaceable axis may be optionally eliminated in orderto allow the stack of articles to sit on the push-up device because, asis apparent from FIG. 10, the upper end of the stack of articles 7 isalways positioned at exactly the same point of the article-handling unit6. As a result, deposition is always possible at the same point if theposition of the support 52 is known.

The bay-storage and retrieval unit 5 next travels to the article shaft 4of the automatic commissioning unit to be filled. Accurate positioningin the X and Y directions again takes place here. The stack-of-articlessupport 52 is then fed to the article shaft 4 by means of the telescopicaxis 62.

Since the bay-storage and retrieval unit 5 normally travels in the aislebetween the higher-level supply bay 15 and the filling side B of theflow shelf 3, it is possible to commission either manually orautomatically at the same time on the other side of the flow shelf.

With reference to FIG. 2, which shows a different arrangement of thehigher-level supply bay 15 than does FIG. 1, a collective box from apallet 41 may be unpacked at the acceptance department E by a person ona work bench and stacks of articles of a length of, e.g., approx. 600 mmcan be put together and be arranged on a stacker plate 16, 18.

This “goods acceptance buffer” 16, 18 can be described as follows:

There are about five storage shafts each in two levels and, to make itpossible to work ergonomically, one free storage shaft each is pushedinto position P. After pushing off, a foot switch is actuated in orderto automatically move the next free shaft of the goods acceptance bufferinto the correct position. As an alternative, the shafts may also beconveyed on a conveyor belt, in which case one free shaft each is movedinto position P. The articles of the same brand are conveyed manually orautomatically into the shafts of the goods acceptance buffer.

To these goods acceptance places corresponds a higher-level supply bay15, which is designed such that an amount of articles received thatapproximately corresponds to the amount needed in a day is buffered, andthe length is selected to be such that a certain number of circulatingbay-storage and retrieval units will pass by the goods acceptance placesfrequently enough to empty and rearrange the shafts filledcorrespondingly. The removal from the goods acceptance buffer onto thebay-storage and retrieval unit 5 takes place in the same manner as fromthe higher-level supply bay.

However, other possible embodiments of a stacker plate 18 at theacceptance department E are conceivable as well.

Provisions may be made, in particular, according to FIGS. 15 and 16, todeposit the stacks of articles 7 unpacked from a collective box 17 on adouble stacker plate 18, wherein the stack-of-articles stacker plate 18is rotatable 180° around a vertical axis 19 in order to align the stacksof articles 7 to be removed in the direction of the bay-storage andretrieval unit 5 and also to fill the double stacker plate 18 on theother side.

The bay-storage and retrieval unit 5 according to FIG. 16 can be rotated(after a 180° rotation of the article-handling unit 6) around a verticalaxis and adjusted downward in the vertical direction in order to takeover the stack of articles 7 by displacement. The longitudinal slope aand the transverse slope b of the stacker plate and of the pick-up 8 areequal. The two devices are exactly aligned with one another in thelongitudinal direction, so that a displacement of the stack of articlescan take place by utilizing the slope with the support of the rollingcart. The longitudinal pusher 9 is now used to release the article stopat A of the stacker plate, on the one hand, and, on the other hand, “tobrake” the stack of articles during the return until the stack ofarticles has been completely picked up on the pick-up 8 of thearticle-handling unit of the bay-storage and retrieval unit. The pusheris then used as an article stop.

The article stop A may also be released by the feed motion of theloading unit. The longitudinal pusher itself now has a rake, which candip through the article stop. This rake moves back the product column byabout 20 mm during coupling in order to subsequently pick up the articlecolumn utilizing the force of gravity, controlled by the transversepusher.

Another unpacking station according to FIGS. 25 and 26 can be describedas follows:

The stack-of-articles stacker plate 18 comprises a verticallydisplaceable bay with horizontally movable drawers 50, which can bepulled out manually into the area E of a human operator. The verticallydisplaceable bay now moves with a free plane to the level of theworkplace. The empty drawer 50 is pulled manually to the right accordingto the drawing, after which, e.g., three shafts in the form of doublysloped angle sheet irons can be filled with a stack of articles 7 eachand each stack of articles can be stabilized with a rolling cart on thetop side according to the right-hand part of the drawing. The filleddrawer is then returned into the bay. The bay is then adjustedvertically (or laterally) by means of a hand or foot switch such thatthe next free drawer will reach the working level. The pulling out andpushing in of the drawers as well as the adjustment of the bay in thevertical and/or lateral directions may also be performed automaticallyon the whole.

For the full automation of the acceptance department, provisions mayalso be made for mechanically aligning the articles emptied as bulkgoods from a collective box, for reading them by a reading station, forbeing checked by a batch control, for being ordered in columns by asuitable machine and for being delivered into the buffer.

In the variant of a bay-storage and retrieval unit according to thepresent invention illustrated in FIGS. 3 through 8, the article-handlingunit is divided into two parts, namely, a separate, verticallyadjustable stack-of-articles pick-up unit 28 with a plurality of anglesheet irons 14 of the type, position and size of the stack-of-articlespick-up 8 and of the supply bay, which has at least one adjustable,second longitudinal stack-of-articles pusher 29 of its own, wherein aplurality of stacks of articles 7 can be conveyed by thestack-of-articles pick-up unit 28 from the buffer 16 or from thestack-of-articles pick-up to the higher-level supply bay 15 as well asloaded and removed, and a separate, vertically adjustable article bayloading unit, which is in turn divided into two parts and has, on theone hand, a vertically adjustable single stack-of-articles pick-up 8′with the longitudinal stack-of-articles pusher 9 and with another,transverse stack-of-articles pusher 31 and, on the other hand, agripping unit 32 movable in space with the bottom-side stack-of-articlespick-up 8′, the longitudinal stack-of-articles clamping plate 12′ andthe adjustable transverse stack-of-articles pusher 10, wherein a singleselected stack of articles 7′ (optionally two or more parallel stacks ofarticles in the case of short articles) can be conveyed by the articlebay loading unit from the supply bay (higher-level supply bay 15, buffer16) or from the stack-of-articles stacker plate 18 of the acceptancedepartment E to the automatic commissioning unit 2 and be loaded pieceby piece into a selected, obliquely horizontal shaft of the article baythere.

For loading the stack of articles into the automatic commissioning unit2, the stack of articles 7 can be removed by the individualstack-of-articles pick-up 8′ from the supply bay in the longitudinaldirection of the stack by displacement with the longitudinalstack-of-articles pusher 9, and after transfer or transversedisplacement V of the stack of articles 7 from the individualstack-of-articles pick-up 8′ by the additional transversestack-of-articles pusher 31 to the bottom-side stack-of-articles pick-up8′ of the aligned gripping unit or stack-of-articles support 52 andafter clamping of the entire stack of articles in the transversedirection Q of the stack by the longitudinal clamping plate 12 havingspring-tensioned fingers, it can be positioned at the selected shaft ofthe automatic commissioning unit 2 by moving the gripping unit and itcan be loaded article by article.

The gripping unit is fastened via an axis of rotation 33 to a verticallyadjustable lifting carriage 34, which is in turn vertically displaceableon a vertical bar 35 of the bay-storage and retrieval unit 5, which saidbar is linked on the bottom side around two vertical axes C, D.

The vertical bar 35 has a shorter length than the vertical bar 36 onwhich the individual stack-of-articles pick-up 8′ and thestack-of-articles pick-up unit 28 are vertically displaceable.

According to FIGS. 3 through 8, the combined goods storage and loadingdevice can consequently remove article columns 7 from the acceptancedepartment by means of the goods acceptance unit from obliquelypositioned bays sloping toward the device. The stack is guided by thepositioned pusher. This pusher also introduces the goods into the bay atthe loading site. The pusher is displaceable over a plurality of stacksof articles and product cartons on the goods loading unit. The goodsloading unit and the loading unit are vertically displaceable on theaxis 36 up to a height of about 5.5 m. The device itself is rail-borne,is able to travel in curves and is guided directly at the bay rows andcan travel, especially by means of controlled switches, in shortcircuits and short circles, such that the entire warehouse area can becovered. The entire unit can be expanded by increasing the number ofbay-storage and retrieval units.

The loading unit comprises essentially two components: The removing unitfrom the bay by means of pushers and the loading unit with a pivotableaxis 35. The height to be loaded is approx. 2 m to 2.5 m in the case ofautomatic commissioning units, i.e., the loading device does notnecessarily have to travel up to the bottom of the highest bay to takeover the goods. This is performed by the removing unit and by pushingoff the goods removed into the gripper or the support 52.

The storage removal unit performs positioning at the corresponding bayshaft, releases a brake and takes over the stack 7 onto the obliqueplane by moving back the pusher 9. This unit then moves into the area ofthe loading unit, which is positioned before the stack of articles. Thisstack of articles is pushed with the pusher 31 into the gripper, and therear stop is established by the displaceable plate or the transversepusher 10. It is achieved due to this stop that the front edge of thearticle is always at the same point during loading.

Even though doubly sloped angle sheet irons are particularlyadvantageous as the support and stacker plate for stacks, it is obviousthat a simple slope of angle sheet irons or a horizontal arrangement isalso possible if corresponding drives and fixing aids are provided forthe stack of articles.

While specific embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed in detail to illustrate the application of the principles ofthe invention, it will be understood that the invention may be embodiedotherwise without departing from such principles.

1. A commissioning system for a plurality of articles, the systemcomprising: a plurality of article shafts arranged next to one anotherand one on top of another, each of said plurality of article shaftsbeing sloped with respect to horizontal to have an upper and lower end,said each of said plurality of article shafts having a support forholding a plurality of the articles; a cart horizontally movable alongsaid plurality of article shafts; an article loader mounted verticallymovably on said cart, said loader having a support for holding a stackof the articles, the stack of articles having a longitudinal axis,vertical movements of said article loader on said cart and horizontalmovements of said cart selectively arrange said article loader at eachof said plurality of article shafts, said article loader including anejector movable in a transverse direction to said longitudinal axis ofthe stack of articles and individually ejecting one of the articles fromthe stack of articles in said transverse direction into a selected oneof said article shafts.
 2. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein:said ejector is arranged at a bottom of said article loader and moves alowermost article of the stack of articles from said article loader intosaid upper end of said selected one of said article shafts; wherein thearticles slide from said upper end to said lower end of each said shaftby gravity.
 3. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein: saidejector is arranged at a top of said article loader and moves anuppermost article of the stack of articles from said article loader intosaid upper end of said selected one of said article shafts; a lifter isarranged in said article loader to lift the stack of articles to saidejector.
 4. A system in accordance with claim 1, wherein: said pluralityof article shafts are arranged in a first bay; another plurality ofarticle shafts are arranged in a second bay; said cart is movablebetween said first and second bays; said article loader receives thestack of articles from one of said another plurality of shafts in saidsecond bay; said article loader includes a clamp for clamping the stackof articles.
 5. A system in accordance with claim 4, wherein: said clampselectively clamps and unclamps the stack of articles.
 6. A system inaccordance with claim 4, wherein: said clamp selectively clamps thestack of articles after receiving the articles from the second bay,while moving the articles from said first bay to said second bay, andbefore ejecting the articles into said first bay; said clamp selectivelyunclamps while receiving the articles from the second and while ejectingthe articles into said first bay.
 7. A commissioning system for aplurality of articles, the system comprising: first and second bays,each of said bays including a plurality of article shafts arranged nextto one another and one on top of another, each of said plurality ofarticle shafts being sloped with respect to horizontal to have an upperand lower end, each of said plurality of article shafts having a stopperfor holding the articles in a sloped position in said article shafts,said first and second bays being spaced from each other; a carthorizontally movable along said plurality of article shafts and betweensaid first and second bays; an article loader mounted verticallymovably, pivotally movable and transversely movable on said cart to beselectively positioned and aligned with one of said article shafts ofsaid first bay, said loader having a support for receiving a stack ofthe articles from said one article shaft, said support holding the stackof articles while said article loader moves vertically, pivotally andtransversely to position the stack of articles at another of saidarticle shafts in said second bay, the stack of articles having alongitudinal axis, said article loader including an ejector movable in atransverse direction to said longitudinal axis of the stack of articlesand individually ejecting one of the articles from the stack of articlesin said transverse direction into said another of said article shafts insaid second bay.
 8. A system in accordance with claim 7, wherein: saidejector is arranged at a bottom of said article loader and moves alowermost article of the stack of articles from said article loader intosaid upper end of said selected one of said article shafts; wherein thearticles slide from said upper end to said lower end of each said shaftby gravity.
 9. A system in accordance with claim 7, wherein: saidejector is arranged at a top of said article loader and moves anuppermost article of the stack of articles from said article loader intosaid upper end of said selected one of said article shafts; a lifter isarranged in said article loader to lift the stack of articles to saidejector.
 10. A system in accordance with claim 7, wherein: said articleloader includes a clamp for clamping the stack of articles.
 11. A systemin accordance with claim 10, wherein: said clamp selectively clamps andunclamps the stack of articles.
 12. A system in accordance with claim10, wherein: said clamp selectively clamps the stack of articles afterreceiving the articles from the second bay, while moving the articlesfrom said first bay to said second bay, and before ejecting the articlesinto said first bay; said clamp selectively unclamps while receiving thearticles from the second and while ejecting the articles into said firstbay.